Honored for his long-term contribution to weather and climate science, and innovation in wind and solar energy research.

Dr. MacDonald joins an exclusive list of luminaries who have received the award including Vice President Al Gore and Boulder residents Gilbert F. White (1992) and William M. Lewis Jr (1996).

Potomac, Virginia (PRWEB)November 02, 2016

Today Dr. Alexander MacDonald received the Renewable Natural Resources Foundation’s 2016 Sustained Achievement Award. For the last 25 years, the award has gone to a single individual who has demonstrated long-term contribution and commitment to the protection and conservation of natural resources. Dr. MacDonald joins an exclusive list of luminaries who have received the award including Vice President Al Gore and Boulder residents Gilbert F. White (1992) and William M. Lewis Jr (1996).

He is honored for his contributions over the last 40 years, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and most recently at Spire Global, Inc. In 1994, Dr. MacDonald worked with Vice President Al Gore to initiate the GLOBE Program. He invented Science On a Sphere, an innovative educational display in over 100 museums around the world. As Director of NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory for 10 years he promoted leading edge weather and climate science. For his body of work, he was awarded four Presidential Rank Awards, and was President of the American Meteorological Society in 2015. Most recently, Dr. MacDonald led a research group that showed that wind and solar energy could reduce US electric sector carbon dioxide by more than 80%. The paper, published in Nature Climate Change, was rated in the 99th percentile of public impact. He has recently been working with many organizations, including The Climate Institute, on implementation of safe and sustainable energy systems in the US and around the world.

“Since day one, we’ve felt incredibly lucky to have such an accomplished person providing leadership for our weather team.” said Spire CEO, Peter Platzer. “Dr. MacDonald continues to demonstrate his commitment to conservation in his work on weather and climate at Spire.”

“I’m honored to receive this prestigious award,” said Dr. MacDonald. “I’m also lucky to have worked with some of the best minds in government and industry throughout my career. We continue to make incredible advances in the world of weather, climate and energy science, thanks to innovation in observations, modeling and understanding”.

About Spire
Spire Global, Inc. is a leading player in the nanosatellite sector, building the world’s most advanced, constantly refreshed constellation. In an industry that is used to measuring development periods in years, Spire has accelerated timelines to a period of just weeks. Spire’s solutions offer organizations insights into weather & climate, shipping & supply chain and maritime domain awareness. This network of nanosatellites senses the ¾ of the planet inaccessible to most current systems which rely largely on land-based remote sensing. To learn more, visit: http://www.spire.com